Advancements in technology and the growing concern for environmentally-efficient vehicles have led to the use of alternate fuel and power sources for vehicles. Electric vehicles or hybrid electric vehicles can use electric motors and energy storage systems (ESS) to provide power for various vehicle requirements. The ESS commonly includes a plurality of battery cells and a battery management system (BMS) to control the charging of the battery cells. The BMS is configured to manage the voltage and capacity required for a particular vehicle in order to control features such as the charging rate, charging balance between individual battery cells, and amount of charge for each battery cell. In addition to ensuring that the battery cells have balanced charge, the BMS also prevents overheating and overcharging of the battery cells.
It may be desirable to alter the capacity of the ESS for a vehicle depending on the desired functions of the vehicle, e.g. to provide increased range. However, altering the capacity of the ESS may affect several factors, including the charging rates of the battery cells. Heretofore, if the capacity of ESS is to be changed, a newly configured BMS has been required in order to accommodate the altered charging rates and prevent overheating and overcharging of the battery cells. Alternatively, if full battery packs are added in parallel, each battery pack must contain its own redundant BMS.